1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is generally directed to scoops, and more particularly to a scoop with a handle with two grips.
2. Description of Related Art
Ice scoops and other such scooping devices are known in the art. Most of these devices are smaller devices for use with one hand. Such devices are typically limited as to the amount of ice or other food product that can be scooped and carried per scoop-full. Because these devices are also operated using only one hand, a user may not be able to easily break ice chunks or plow through a large volume of ice when inserting the scoop into a large container of ice. One handed scoops also can require more reaching and bending for the user when scooping.
A two-handed product is known for scooping ice within a commercial kitchen environment. However, this device is essentially identical to a conventional shovel, but is smaller and made of molded plastic. The device has a linear elongate handle and a shallow shovel head, One problem with such a device is that, when transferring larger amounts of ice from an ice machine to a bucket or container, lots of ice tends to spill from the shovel head and hit the surrounding floor. Melted ice on a floor of a commercial kitchen can create a safety hazard. This also results in wasted ice. Another problem with the known shovel-like device is that the mouth or leading edge of the shovel head is very wide, making it awkward or difficult to insert into ice machines with smaller openings. Yet another problem is that the sides of the shovel head are shallow and do not readily contain large amounts of scooped ice or other food product. Additionally, the handle angle, which generally extends horizontally rearward from the shovel head, is awkward for shoveling ice out of ice machines. A user cannot adequately operate the shovel-like device from a comfortable, efficient angle, and cannot get a good grip on the handle when inserting the shovel head into the ice. A user may try a variety of hand positions, thereby increasing the possibility of cross contamination. Also, the front edge of this known shovel-like device has a thin, knife-like leading edge. When the leading edge is shoved into the ice, the leading edge may be cut, chipped, or damaged. Over time, this can reduce the shovel's effectiveness and can potentially result in plastic chips and fragments being left behind in the ice.